YVONNE, PRINZESSIN VON BURGUND

In the organizer's words:

YVONNE, PRINCESS OF BURGUNDY

by Witold Gombrowicz

translated from the Polish by Olaf Kühl

"Let's say someone comes up to you and tells you that you are such and such a person, tells you the worst, most horrible things, things that kill a person, that simply finish you off, that make you lose your speech and your life. And then you say: Yes, that's me, that's true, but ... But what?" - With these words, Prince Philip tries to lure his newly engaged Yvonne out of her shell, but this also describes the main plot of the first play by Polish author Witold Gombrowicz. Written in 1935, it was only discovered for the stage in the 1960s and at the time was interpreted primarily in the tradition of absurdist theater. Gombrowicz removes his title character from any categorization: she remains silent, accepts all humiliations seemingly unmoved and finally swallows without resistance the bone that the royal court serves her with murderous intent. The fact that the prince brings her to court in order to snub his parents and the entire ossified court and declare their model of rule over is soon forgotten, as he too soon becomes one of her tormentors.

Gombrowicz barely outlines Yvonne's identity, but he all the more clearly unmasks the narrow-mindedness, anger and violence with which she is excluded. In this play, which he himself described as a comedy, Gombrowicz also reflects the totalitarian armaments and mechanisms of oppression of his time, which the young Polish director Wiktor Bagiński reinterprets for the present day.

Artistic direction

Production by Wiktor Bagiński
Stage and video Nicole Marianna Wytyczak
Costumes Isabelle Edi, Mariama Sow
Music Ifeoma Ude
Lighting Markus Schadel
Dramaturgy Katrin Michaels

Price information:

from 10€ for students